A law enforcement official says the attacker in the Connecticut school shootings is a 20-year-old man with ties to the school.

The official said that a gun used in the attacks is a .223-caliber rifle. The official also said that New Jersey state police are searching a location in that state in connection with the shootings, said by an official in Connecticut to have left 27 dead, including 18 children.

So, probably reporters are talking to sources with various agencies, and there'll be conflicting information for a while.

The only thing I saw on my news aggregate was the headline: Elementary School Shooting in Connecticut.

I have a 9 year old daughter and live in CT. My heart dropped to the floor. Clicking on the article, it was clear that this happened about 45 minutes from us, and I was able to breathe again.

I only got a small glimpse of what the parents at that school of those poor children (the ones who are alive, too) must be going through. I'm very thankful.

As I write this, the bus is extremely late getting home. I assume due to extra precautions (we got an email from the superintendent saying as much). I know this was isolated and rare and that it's not happening again right now, but it sure as hell doesn't make this wait easier.

EDIT: She got home about a half hour late and doesn't seem to be aware of what was going on. She hasn't asked. She's been going through some death-related anxiety lately, so I'm not going to bring it up.

This breaks my heart. I just can't believe it. Some of the details that are starting to come out are just horrible. Those kids suffered. I wanted to throw up when I read that he may have killed them execution style.

State police said 26 people including 20 children were massacred in a bloodbath at Sandy Hook Elementary School Friday morning by a lone gunman.

The gunman is also dead, bringing the total dead at the school to 27, state police have confirmed. A second crime scene has been established at a Newtown home, where a body was found after the shooting.

There are conflicting reports on who the shooter was.

The Associated Press has identified the shooter as 20-year-old Adam Lanza.

CNN originally identified the shooter as Adam Lanza's brother, Ryan Lanza, 24, a Hoboken, N.J. resident. The AP said Ryan Lanza is being questioned by police in the investigation.

A Facebook page belonging to Ryan Lanza, a former Newtown resident who lived in Hoboken, N.J. who studied at Quinnipiac University in Hamden, has been taken down. Before it was deleted, Ryan Lanza posted on the page and said he wasn't the shooter.

The reports seem to indicate the Lanza brothers' mother -- who was a teacher at the school -- was killed at their residence. So various reports site "sources say" the younger brother killed his mother first and then went to school to do his rampage. I won't speculate on what kind of thinking or mental illness drives someone to do any of that. It's just impossible to comprehend.

[Well, some reports say the mother was the first victim at the school itself. So it's not clear who the person killed at that residence is]

fwiw, the article also explains Conn. has some of the tougher gun control laws in the U.S., including an assault weapons ban:

Quote

Connecticut's gun laws are tougher than the national average. Consumers need permits to buy handguns. Assault-style weapons are banned as is the possession of bullet-proof vests. Another law, adopted about 10 years ago, lets neighbors who are suspicious of the activities of other neighbors to file police reports. Also, people with protective orders filed against them are prohibited from owning firearm

He could've gotten them at a gun show, or in N.J. where he had a residence, etc. Presumably they're tracking down that sort of background now.

It's certainly tempting to call the shooter names, but please remember that he was obviously very mentally ill. Untroubled people just don't do this. The state of mental healthcare in this country is pitiful. Not saying that it could have definitely stopped this massacre, but look at all of these killings that are happening. Someone, somewhere must have seen something from these people that would let them know that they were distressed. If these people had been able to get help, then perhaps some of these tragedies could have been averted.

In any case, I don't have kids but I'm still heartbroken over this and can't imagine what those poor families are going through.

Logged

Patriotism means being loyal to your country all the time and to its government when it deserves it - Mark Twain

Oh God, this is terrible beyond belief. My families' just been getting over the scare we had this week as one of my Portland cousins has a daughter working in the mall in Clackamas that was attacked. This is so much worse, I can't imagine how tragic this is for the parents of those victims or how anxiety inducing it was for anyone with a child at that school. My heart goes out to all those parents.

I always wonder how I'd react in that type of situation, and hope I never find out. By all accounts, the principal and school psychologist (women in their 40s and 50s) rushed towards the sound of gunfire and were gunned down before they could reach the shooter. I recall at least one teacher at the Va. Tech shooting in 2007 reacted the same way (telling some students to stay in his upstairs office while he rushed towards the sounds).